How To Read More Books: 15 Easy Ways to Read More

By Alastair Brown – author of the Joe Beck crime thriller books.

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28/01/2020

A great way to escape and unwind, reading offers a great way to relax, while also expanding your horizons, broadening your knowledge, sharpening your focus, and cultivating your views on the world around you. Reading gives you something interesting to talk about with others. In short, it improves your life.

However, when it comes to reading more books, the problem most people struggle with is finding the time; especially in today’s high-demand, time-pressured society. But as one famous brand likes to say, ‘impossible is nothing’, I’ll say, ‘reading is worth it,’ and give you fifteen hacks to help you on your way to finding the time to read more books:

1. Write a list. Keeping a log and tracking the books you’ve read offers the sense of fulfillment when you’re able to strike the latest one off, and motivation at earmarking the next one to be opened up. What’s more, you’ll always be able to refer back to your list when others ask what you’re reading or what you’ve read. So, why not start one today. I know what book I would put at the top.

2. Focus on the type of books you enjoy. When you read books that you actually want to read, you’ll find them far more difficult to put it down. For example, take a good crime thriller, it’s not exactly going help you understand the mechanics of quantum physics, but it is going to bring you joy, even if only read for a few blissful moments. Which, eventually, add up – without you even realizing it.

3. Try to get your books on sale. With new hardbacks retailing at anything from twenty bucks and beyond, buying books can be expensive. Which means reading loads could cost you a fortune – unless you buy them cheap. All you have to do is browse Amazon or your local bookstore to see what books you might like are on sale. Spot a few and suddenly, your twenty bucks becomes twenty books. And that’s enough for any man.

4. Buy your books in bulk. This one links in nicely with the last one, not least because it involves making the most of your money and getting more book for each buck. It also plays into psychology, as one of the best motivations to read more comes when you finish a book with your inventory in mind. It only takes a minute to pick what one you’ll read next – compared with hours or days to go buy it afresh – and less time spent shopping/waiting means more time enjoyed reading.

5. Invest in an e-reader. While devoted book worms everywhere will likely always debate e-readers vs physical books, there’s no denying that devices like Kindles can make it easier to read on demand. According to a 2017 Statista survey, twenty-seven percent of Americans find e-books more convenient. It’s no secret that e-readers are massively more convenient than lugging around a library of books – hence why more than one in four people prefer them. What’s more, an e-reader effectively removes the need to actually go visit the bookstore. It’s like a little library of your very own, condensed to your pocket – where you can buy and store as many books as you like on and then read them at your leisure. Get an e-reader today. I’d recommend a Kindle.

6. Download the Kindle app to your smartphone. With the Kindle app, you can read anytime, anywhere – on the bus, on your break, in your bed; you’ll never be without a book. The app puts over 1.5 million books at your fingertips, with each book only a few clicks away from being delivered to your Kindle library. All you need to do is buy them and they’ll be delivered to your app, letting you read from whatever device you install it on. What’s more, Kindle Unlimited members can use the app on their smartphone to read any of 1.5 million books for free as part of their membership. This app is absolutely essential.

7. Join Kindle Unlimited. Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service from Amazon that offers you unlimited access to more than 1.5 million books from the Amazon Kindle Store. For a monthly fee, you can read as many or as little books as you like. If you want to read more books, a Kindle Unlimited subscription is definitely worth getting. More on Kindle Unlimited.

8. Set simple goals. It’s no secret that to take ten-thousand steps, you’ve got to take the first one first. Then, the second. Then, the third. Then, the fourth, Then, fifth. See the idea? Don’t say you’re going to read one-hundred books. Say you’re going to read one book, first. Then, when you’re reading your book, break it up even smaller. Call it ten pages a day, or a chapter a night, whatever works best. Before you know it, you’ll breeze through to the end and be on your fifth book before you say five. It makes reading easier, stress-free and enjoyable. Go get started today.

9. Carry your books, books app or e-reader everywhere. The idea here is, there’s always an opportunity to read. Maybe it’s for ten or fifteen minutes during your morning or evening commute. Maybe it’s while you’re letting time pass as you wait in the dentist’s or doctor’s office. Maybe it’s while you’re walking the incline on the treadmill or resting between sets as you crush your goals at the gym. There’s always an opportunity to read. And you want to be ready for it. The only way to do it? If you have a book on hand. That’s why you should always carry them with you.

10. Commit to reading regularly. You want to make reading a habit, and this one certainly helps make that happen. All you need to do is agree with yourself to do it regularly. It could be fifteen or twenty minutes in the morning before the family wakes up, maybe with a nice hot cup of coffee; or it could be late at night while you lye in bed. Maybe it’s while you’re on the train or the bus going from where you are to where you need to be. Just pick a time and pick a place and commit to getting it done. You’ll be thankful you did.

11. Use time wisely. If you find yourself with a free quarter-hour or half-hour, why not use it to read? You might get through a pages or you might get to the end of that chapter you’ve been longing to finish. Either way, you’ll end up a lot further beyond that front cover than you were. Try it. Next time you feel yourself about to open Facebook or set to waste the next fifteen minutes binge-watching crap on YouTube, open a book instead.

12. Skim read on occasion. Don’t be afraid to skim read sections of books, especially if there’s a scene you’re not fully into and you’re eager to get past it. It helps you get through the book faster so that you can move on to the better chapters or the next book entirely.

13. Swap something else for a book. This one links back to using time wisely. Think about it, everybody’s got twenty-four hours in a day. Not twenty-five, not twenty-three; but twenty-four. And the thought of dedicating one, maybe two of those twenty-four hours to reading might seem impossible, especially if you’re already rushed off your feet and feel like there just isn’t enough hours in the day. Well, you’ve got twenty-four, and no more. So, if you want to read more, you’ve got to be more intentional and borrow time from other activities. The good news is doing it is actually pretty easy. If you come home from work and find yourself spending two, maybe three hours a day sitting in front of the TV, just borrow an hour from there. Watch TV for an hour or two and invest the ‘borrowed’ hour in a good book. Same goes for anything else that consumes your time. Swap it for reading and watch your list of completed novels pile up. Just ask yourself one question – would I rather do this or read that? Almost always, you’ll be glad you did.

14. Read multiple books at once. Not literally. I’m not talking lying in bed with six books open all around you. More like reading multiple at once, figuratively. You dip in and out of each one as you go, a half-hour with this one here, a fifteen-minute quickie with that one there, wherever you are, whatever mind-set you’re in. Idea is that you might not want to read the same book, exclusively, all the time; you might fancy a crack at another story while temporarily pushing the one you’re reading aside. Done right, and done well, it can add up to a whole lot books read over time.

15. Talk about what you’re reading. Telling other people what you’re reading not only helps spark conversations, it makes you a more interesting individual to be around. It gives you something to talk about and something for them to ask about. And it can make you feel damn good about books, which in turn makes you want to read them.

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